House approves whistleblower reward bill LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas House lawmakers have approved a measure allowing state employees to receive an award if they expose waste and inefficiencies that lead to savings for the state. By a 65-21 vote, the House on Wednesday passed a measure changing the state's whistleblower law to include a reward for reporting fraud and abuse in government. Under the bill, if an employee's report leads to savings for the state, the employee could ...

Fed. judges dismiss redistricting appeal LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A three-judge panel has dismissed an appeal of last year's ruling upholding the way an east Arkansas Senate district's lines were redrawn. The panel on Wednesday dismissed the appeal by former state Sen. Jack Crumbly and a group of residents in his district. The judges last year rejected a lawsuit by Crumbly and the residents that claimed the Board of Apportionment violated the U.S. Constitution by lowering the number ...

State panel approves 20-week abortion ban LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A proposal banning most abortions in Arkansas at 20 weeks into a pregnancy was advanced to the Senate floor Wednesday over the objections of opponents who say it would require mothers to deliver babies with fatal conditions and doesn't cover enough health conditions. The Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee approved the abortion restriction by a voice vote after amending the bill to add exemptions for rape...

Jackson County voters approve tax for new jail NEWPORT, Ark. (AP) - Voters in Jackson County have approved two sales tax issues that will pay for a new 100-bed county jail. On Tuesday, voters passed a three-eighths percent sales tax for construction and another three-eighths percent sales tax for maintenance. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports (http://is.gd/DcZG9s ) that the two taxes are expected to raise about $1.4 million annually. The construction tax will be dropped once the $8.8 m...

Miller County to pay off jail debt early TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) - Miller County officials say they will be able to pay off a debt for jail improvements early. County Budget Commission Chairman Ernest Pender said Monday that that the county borrowed $281,000 in 2009 for jail repairs. A sales tax is being used to pay off the loan. The county now has $683,000 available and can pay off the loan balance, with about $400,000 left over. Pender told the Texarkana Gazette (http://is.gd/7ZVq0N )...

Companies reach pact with state.: No payday loans LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The attorney general's office says it has reached an agreement with an out-of-state lending company so that it won't offer payday loans in Arkansas. Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel's office said Tuesday that Sure Advance LLC agreed not to provide loans to Arkansans beyond the state's law usury limits The sides filed a consent judgment in Pulaski County Circuit Court. The AG's office says the company will also...

Boehner: Up to Democrats to prevent budget cuts WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday it’s unlikely the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-led Senate will prevent a wave of automatic spending cuts from beginning to strike the economy in two weeks. Yet he sounded hopeful about avoiding a partial shutdown of the government when a temporary spending bill expires next month. Cloistered in his Capitol office overlooking the National Mall, Boehner said in an intervie...

Pentagon creates new medal for cyber, drone wars WASHINGTON (AP) — They fight the war from computer consoles and video screens. But the troops who launch the drone strikes and direct the cyberattacks that can kill or disable an enemy may never set foot in the combat zone. Now their battlefield contributions may be recognized with the first new combat-related medal to be created in decades. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Wednesday that the Pentagon is creating a medal that can be aw...

Do tax increases kill jobs? Minnesota soon to find out MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Dik Bolger is a lifelong Minnesota Democrat, a gray-bearded baby boomer with a braid down his back whose Minneapolis printing company’s plant displays work by local artists and sculptors. He backed Mark Dayton for governor, but his take on the Democratic chief executive’s plan for new business taxes could be the voice-over for a Republican campaign commercial. “We’re screwed,” Bolger said, if the tax goes through. His 79-yea...

Senate chairman calls for action on immigration WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate opened its first hearing on a comprehensive immigration overhaul Wednesday with a call from a committee chairman for swift action on a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants. Tensions quickly emerged as shouting protesters interrupted the hearing and Republicans called for border security first. “The president is right: Now is the time,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Lea...

Small business State of the Union scorecard NEW YORK (AP) — President Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday covered a lot of issues that are important to small business including the tax code, minimum wage, immigration and the difficulty some owners have finding workers with the right skills. Here is a look at some of Obama’s proposals, and how they could affect small business: SIMPLIFIED TAX CODE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES Impact: Positive Obama talked about creating a tax code that hel...

Obama: Nation stronger, GOP should back his plans WASHINGTON (AP) — Uncompromising and politically emboldened, President Barack Obama urged a deeply divided Congress Tuesday night to embrace his plans to use government money to create jobs and strengthen the nation’s middle class. He declared Republican ideas for reducing the deficit “even worse” than the unpalatable deals Washington had to stomach during his first term. In his first State of the Union address since winning re-election, Obama...

Senate Dems, GOP clash over need for new gun curbs WASHINGTON (AP) — The toll of gun violence and the widespread disgust it has generated makes it time for new federal gun curbs that balance public safety with gun rights, Democrats said Tuesday at the Senate’s latest hearing on restricting firearms. Republicans said today’s unenforced gun laws give criminals no reason to fear ignoring them. And they warned that the Constitution’s right to bear arms must be protected, even after unspeakable eve...

Senate approves anti-violence against women act WASHINGTON (AP) — By a robust bipartisan majority, the Senate voted Tuesday to renew the Violence Against Women Act with new assurances that gays and lesbians, immigrants and Native American women will have equal access to the act’s anti-domestic violence programs. The 78-22 Senate vote to reauthorize the two-decade-old act that has shielded millions of women from abuse and helped reduce national rates of domestic violence turns the focus to t...

House panel approves cap on government growth LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Insisting that Arkansas needs to save more of its money, Republicans pushed a plan through a House committee Tuesday that would cap how much state government could grow each year, despite the governor's claims that it would "wreak havoc" on the state's budget. The proposal would limit growth in most of the state's annual expenditures to either 3 percent or the three-year average increase in the state's gross domestic p...

Sen. Pryor appointed to defense subcommittee LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor has announced his appointment to the Senate's Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Pryor said Tuesday that the appointment allows him the opportunity to ensure funding for Arkansas military installations and ensure that the state remains a key player in the nation's security strategy. Arkansas' military connections include Little Rock Air Force Base, the Arkansas National Guard, the Pine Bluff Arse...

Lawmakers delay vote on 12-week abortion ban LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The House is delaying a vote on legislation that would ban most abortions in Arkansas at 12 weeks into a pregnancy as sponsors of the measure say they're working on more changes to the bill. Republican Sen. Jason Rapert said Tuesday that the legislation was being amended to clarify what exemptions would be included under the measure, which would likely be the strictest abortion ban in the nation if approved. The House ...

Panel advances guns on campus proposal LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A House panel has advanced legislation that would allow faculty and staff at Arkansas' colleges and universities to carry concealed handguns. The House Education Committee on Tuesday approved a proposal by Republican Rep. Charlie Collins of Fayetteville to allow the concealed weapons on public college campuses. Collins amended the proposal to allow public colleges and universities to opt out of allowing the weapons and...

Judge assigned to review Phillips Co. court LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A retired circuit judge from Fayetteville has been assigned to serve as independent consultant over the 1st Judicial District in the Mississippi Delta. The Arkansas Supreme Court on Monday assigned Kim Smith to serve as consultant and gave him the full authority of a circuit judge. The court began scrutinizing the district after a series of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette stories exposed problems in Phillips County, includin...